Unfortunately, the decline was due to a sharp drop in the labor participation rate (fewer people looking for jobs), which isn't good news.

Nonetheless, the 8.1 percent figure is a welcome rate for the Obama administration, because it looks like unemployment is finally heading in the right direction (down).

It's worth noting, however, that the unemployment rate is still strikingly higher than the Obama administration thought it would be by now, especially after the economic stimulus enacted back in 2009.

In 2009, advisers to President Obama projected that the unemployment rate would be close to 5 percent at this time.

This highlights one of the biggest mistakes the Obama administration has made in the President's first term — underestimating the depths of the economic decline and then being over-optimistic about the recovery rate.

Below, a look at the current unemployment rate (green) compared to projections made in 2009.